Utilization of waste unripe mango for preparation of candy with enhanced bioactive and mineral composition

In the present study, waste (dropped) raw/unripe local mangoes were utilized to prepare highly nutritious fruit candy as functional food. The raw mango pulp was blended with different concentration of gelatin, pectin, brown sugar (gur) and sugar to prepare candy having chewy texture. The fruit candy was analyzed for its bioactive components and overall acceptability scores during storage under ambient conditions. Significant decrease in total phenols (98.92 to 95.17 GAE/100g), antioxidant activity 16.64 to 15.57 %), ascorbic acid (31.47 to 26.31 mg/100g) and total flavonoid content (15.31 to 14.69 mg Catechin/100 g) of raw mango candy was observed during storage period of 90 days, Highest amount of mean calcium (48.82 mg/100g) and phosphorus content (27.86 mg/100g) were in T₆ (RMP + 4.5 g gelatin + 3.5g pectin + 45g brown sugar). Sensory evaluation of raw mango candies showed that candy prepared using 4 g gelatin, 3g pectin and 40g sugar scored the best with respect to overall acceptability scores. Thus, mango fruit candy having rich flavour of raw/unripe mango can emerge as a highly acceptable confectionery product liked by almost all age groups as a snack for gaining quick energy thereby adding economic value and enhanced utilization of the waste mango and higher monetary returns to the farmers/small scale food processors.